Aelita

by Alexei Tolstoy

Overview

Tolstoi published two science fiction novels, both of which appeared in the experimental 1920s and which were revised during the following decades of Stalinist terror. Aelita (1923) is a science-fiction fantasy in the manner of H.G. Wells, telling the story of a Soviet expedition to Mars with the aim of establishing communism. A Red Army officer forments a rebellion of the native Martians, who are in fact long-ago emigrants from Atlantis. The story was adapted into a screen play in 1924. Its futuristic, expressionistic sets were designed by Isaac Rabinovitch of the Kamerny Theatre. The film influenced the design in Flash Gordon, a space opera, which was created by the artist Alex Raymond in 1934 and led to a popular radio serial and several films. Giperboloid inzhenera Garina (1926, The Death Box) described an attempt of an unscrupulous inventor to use his death ray to conquer the world. He manages to rule a decadently capitalist USA for a short period.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9788367583312
Publisher:	Legend Books Sp. Z O.O.
Publication date:	01/23/2023
Pages:	188
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

Alexei Nikolayevich Count Tolstoy (1883-1945) was a popular Russian writer. In the 1930s and 1940s, he unhesitatingly glorified Stalin in works such as the novel Bread (1937) and provided the Soviet government with the propaganda literature it desired. This led to his being elected chairman of the Soviet Writers' Union in 1936. His most famous creation is Burattino, a fairy-tale character modeled on Pinocchio that is still loved by millions of Russian children today.

Table of Contents

	A Strange Notice	7
	The Workshop	12
	A Fellow-Traveller	20
	A Sleepless Night	28
	The Same Night	34
	The Take-off	40
	Black Sky	45
	The Descent	52
	Mars	55
	The Deserted House	66
	The Sunset	75
	Los Looks at the Earth	77
	The Martians	80
	Beyond the Mountains	85
	Soatsera	93
	In the Azure Copse	98
	Rest	101
	The Ball of Mist	104
	On the Stairs	113
	Aelita's First Story	120
	A Chance Discovery	130
	Aelita's Morning	140
	Aelita's Second Story	148
	Gusev Observes the City	171
	Los Is Alone	185
	The Spell	193
	The Song of Long Ago	199
	Los Flies to Gusev's Aid	206
	Gusev's Activities	211
	Events Take a New Turn	220
	The Counter-Attack	227
	Queen Magr's Labyrinth	236
	Khao	244
	Escape	249
	Oblivion	257
	The Earth	262
	The Voice of Love	269